Thursday, December 31, 2009

**REMINDER: Today is the last day to make a tax-deductible financial donation to OWH for 2009; you can send it via Paypal by midnight tonight!**

One last big thank you to all our donors in 2009....stay tuned soon for some amazing statistics from the year, once we crunch some numbers and create some pretty graphs! This week we received 5047 cards from the following folks...you rock!

Pat C and Pacesetters Stamp Group, Shalimar FL......ladies, thanks so much for the great box of cards!!!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

With the new year approaching, it's a great time to reflect on why we are all involved in helping our heroes through a program like OWH. Our shippers receive little notes on packing slips all the time, and it's an encouragement to know why you've joined the OWH family!

What has your participation meant to you?

Who shared OWH with you?

Who might you invite to join in the fun?

Please leave a comment at the end of this post about why you make cards for our deployed heroes....we'd all love to be encouraged by each story! To get you started, here's just one sweet note we received this week from one family who have become involved:

Dear wonderful people,I'm packing up the 129 cards my 82 year old mother made with love. My sister, Christine W, found your site a few months ago and shared with us the wonderful work you're doing for our troops.

Please know you are appreciated for the good you're giving to the troops as well as to us, those who want to help in some kind way.

With great appreciation,Melinda G.

P.S. My mother's life has been enriched by this project—beyond words! Thank you!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

All of the Paper Zone stores are collecting cards for OWH on an ongoing basis; if you'd like to save yourself some shipping, drop them off there!

Please be sure to include a packing slip with your information if you'd like to get credit for them. And if you wish to make a financial donation, please mail it to our Federal Way address rather than leaving it in the package, since the cards will await pickup when there's enough to warrant a trip and we don't want that to get separated.

Holiday cards may not make it on deadline if they're dropped at a Paper Zone - they'll be collected and sent when the store is able, not necessarily meeting our deadlines. But they can be saved for the following year. (If you drop holiday cards at the Tacoma or Tukwila stores, Sandy can drive over to pick them up, so email to let her know.)

Thank you Paper Zone for your partnership! You're awesome! (Store locations can be found on their site.)

Thursday, December 24, 2009

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas Eve....and we're so grateful for all of you cardmakers! You put thousands of cards in our heroes' stockings this year, 1884 just this week, and made so many families happy!

Note: Sandy's been on vacation, so the cards sent to WA will be listed here next Thursday when she's home and processing them!

Jennifer C, Jim Thorpe PA......thank you for gathering the children of your group and making Any Hero cards. These are wonderful!

Ann F and friends, LaGrange IL........WOW! What a pretty box of Valentine's day cards. Thank you!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

This video was made in partnership between OWH and a number of our contacts! Some of our heroes had been asking what they could give to our cardmakers, since they were so grateful for all the beautiful work that's poured into the cards we send them. And since we know all of you love photos so much, we brainstormed the idea behind this video. So photos were requested especially from those who'd received holiday cards in the last few months; and over the course of the last few weeks they poured in! You can tell they had a lot of fun shooting them.

For those who want a little technical detail about how this was made: The photos were processed to remove names on uniforms to preserve our heroes' privacy, as well as editing detail in the images that could cause harm; the Department of Defense has OPSEC guidelines (Operational Security) and we didn't want to cross that! Some of our heroes were standing in their workplaces with some items on walls or whiteboards that probably shouldn't end up on YouTube. The silhouettes were created in Photoshop, and slides were developed in InDesign and exported as high res jpgs. Those were imported into iPhoto, and when the movie was created in iMovie, it pulled in those images. Technical difficulties in uploading caused some delay (the plan had been to get it launched over the weekend!), but the thrill of getting it posted this morning outweighs all that!

This particular photo has its own special story, and I'll let our contact tell it in her words:

Last photo is the best one...my boss! The Battalion Commander, LTC G. H., actually took direction from me and allowed this photo shoot to happen. At first he wasn't so sure about doing it, but when I told him it was for the lady that sends all the handmade cards, he immediately put on the santa hat and let me click this photo! You get respect around these parts, lady. Thanks so much for all the wonderful cards!
CPT T. M.

So...Merry Christmas from our heroes around the world. They truly do appreciate all that you do to support them — keep up the great work!

Merry Christmas! This week the Post Office in Washington got a special treat — they work so hard in processing all of your packages that arrive, as well as those that are sent out....so they received cookies and a card. The small one fit into Sandy's small box for her carrier, with a packet of cookies; the large one went to the Post Office itself with the huge box of cookies. And you know whose photo had to be inside....our smiling Marine!

3,310 cards sent this week:

To heroes in Afghanistan:
328 cards to an Army unit
328 cards to an Army unit
328 cards to an Air Force unit
328 cards to a civilan to share with an Army unit
334 cards to an Army unit
25 AnyHero letters to an especially lonely hero

To heroes in Iraq:
328 cards to an Army unit

To heroes in Kuwait: 328 cards to an Army unit

To heroes in the Philippines:

328 cards to a Marine unit

To heroes in Kosovo:

328 cards to an Army unit

Other fun statistics:Number of boxes sent:1,083
Number of hero contacts:631
Total cards sent: 290,533!

Deadline reminders:
Christmas and Hannukkah: passed

AnyHero Christmas letters: passed
Valentines: postmark by Jan 5Scroll down a few posts to see the calendar you can download with all our deadlines for 2010!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

A quick FYI - Sandy's on vacation (enjoying the 2-foot snowstorm in Maryland!)....mail's being held at the Post Office til she returns so the housesitter can focus on the cats and not on where to pile all the mail!

Any guesses on how many trips to the PO will be needed to retrieve the mail? Send in a package to add to the fun!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

And he's got a gift for YOU, cardmakers! Our Facebook fans have spent the week guessing at what it might be....and it's been too much fun making them wait (yes, Sandy has a sneaky streak!)!!!

So without further ado: your gift:

Yes, it's a calendar! Complete with (of course) photos of our heroes. And with OWH holiday card deadlines. And the actual holidays. And a snazzy patriotic design! What a beautiful piece to decorate your craft room! It would also make a fantastic gift for your stamping friends for Christmas, too. And what's more - it's FREE! You can download it and print as many as you'd like!

Click on the cover photo above to download a pdf version....it's a HUGE file, so at the end of this post are also jpgs you can download individually if you prefer. (You may just want to print them month-by month). And in between are some photos of the calendar "in use" - and a little description of how they were made or intended to be used.

First is a standard wall calendar above. The pages are printed at 75% of the size, and were attached at the top with a 3/8" wire with a Bind-it-All. Office supply and copy shops near you may offer binding services at a reasonable price to make one calendar. This one has a ribbon to hang it from a nail on the wall.

Note: Each calendar here was printed on color copier paper, of course on a color copier. Photo printers should also work well! These are all printed at 75% of the final size; test one page yourself and see what size you want to try!

Next we printed it again at 75%, and tacked it to a bulletin board on a field of navy blue cardstock. It's an especially easy solution if you don't have a way to bind the pages! You might even do something like this with magnets on your refrigerator — a magnet might not be strong enough to hold through all the pages, but might work for one or two at a time!

Bind the pages on the side and you have a desk calendar. Make notes on the opposite side when you mailed a box, help yourself keep track of your goals, mark your cardmaking parties on it...another great option to use our calendar! You might want to give it a heavy front/back cover with chipboard or cardstock.

Our fourth option is a little feat of engineering if you're up to the task! Use two pieces of chipboard or really heavy cardstock, so that it stands on its own; or you may rig up a crossbar to make sure the "table tent" stays standing. This one used chipboard that wasn't heavy enough so it's a little bowed, and probably will get saggier over time.... :(

Another idea which isn't shown here --- but we know you're up to the task! --- is to start with our calendar file and make it your own! Add embellishments. Use just the photo and calendar sections and fill the other rectangles with patterned papers. Use some adhesive or diecut lettering. Whatever you want to make it YOURS! Be sure to show us a photo, we'd love to share it here and on Facebook with everyone else too! And if you find another way to "use" the calendar, show us that as well!Following are the individual jpgs; click on the one you want to download and it should open in a new window; then right-click to download it to your desktop!

One final note...Sandy's on vacation right now. Hopefully Mom won't look at this blog before the big surprise (shhhhhh!)....so if you have problems downloading the files (or if links are broken etc), please be patient. Your questions will get answered as soon as possible. Try the Facebook Fan Page if you need immediate help, lots of friendly folks there!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

One of our cardmakers, Esther in Vancouver WA, sent in a big box with the sweetest decorated envelopes! Just had to show you a few of them - they're so easy to customize, and she did a lovely job making them all so pretty! Click on the photo to see them a little closer up.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to OWH

He's made his list
And checked it twice;
He's counted cards, and eaten rice (ack, not a poet!)
Santa Claus is coming to OWH

He sees you when you're stamping
He knows when you tie ribbon
He knows if you've used glitter
So be good for our heroes' sake!

O! You've been so kind
You mailed in cards
Gave a few bucks
And poured out your hearts
You love America's heroes, you do!

Enough of the bad poetry....Santa's coming! Santa's coming! And he has a gift for you! Yes, you, cardmakers. You've been so good this year, made so many beautiful cards, and passed on so many smiles to heroes and their families. Santa thought it'd be nice to treat you to a little something.

Stay tuned right here on the Homefront Blog this Friday....Santa's gift will arrive here in the wee hours! Our Facebook fans are busy trying to guess what it is...how about you? What do you think it is?

Monday, December 14, 2009

4,120 cards sent overseas this week....we're nearly at 300,000 cards! Will we hit that by the first of the new year? Who knows!

To heroes in Afghanistan:
351 cards to a Civilian Contractor to share with an Army unit
351 cards to an Air Force unit
328 cards to an Army unit

To heroes in Iraq:
351 cards to an Army unit
351 cards to an Air Force unit
351 cards to an Army unit
351 cards to an Army unit
351 cards to an Army unit
351 cards to an Army unit
328 cards to an Army unit
328 cards to an USAF unit
328 cards to an Army unit

Other fun statistics:Number of boxes sent:1,074
Number of hero contacts: 630
Total cards sent: 290,183!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Some of you — or your spouses — may work at companies who match employees' philanthropy! Some match a few hundred dollars, some match thousands...some match the same amount, some twice as much! Don't leave a benefit on the table...whether your giving is to OWH or to other charities you believe in. It's practically like having a money tree that stretches your own impact!

Check with your HR department, or look on your company intranet. There's typically a form to fill out in which you provide half with your information; another portion of the form may need to be verified by the charity (confirming that yes, they did receive your gift.) who will then forward it back to your company, who then sends a check to your designated charity. (Some companies restrict what kind of charities they give to; check with them about their requirements.)

It's very likely they'll match donations you already made earlier in the year, too - so even if you're not doing year-end giving, consider asking about matching what you've already done. What could be better than more help for our heroes! (Or for any other charity you give to as well!)

If you have questions or need help once you get your company's form, email us and we'll do what we can to help; we're still planning on sending receipts for 2009 donations in January, but if you need something sooner for this, we'd be happy to help!

Monday, December 7, 2009

On this Pearl Harbor Day, a tribute about a well known poem and its mystery authorship!

It is the Soldier

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Many of you may well have seen a version of this poem, attributed to Father Denis OBrien, veteran of the Marine Corps. In doing a little digging, it's actually authored by Charles Province, Army Veteran. Father OBrien had once submitted it to Dear Abby and got credit, and it's hung on with his name. If you ever republish it or forward it in email, please be sure it's credited properly.

However....on this Pearl Harbor Day, how about a double tribute? Both are heroes in their own right and have served our nation well! Father O'Brien's story includes his Pearl Harbor connection, so is quiate appropo for the day.

Charles M. Province

Charles M. Province, a veteran of the US Army, is the sole and single Founder and President of The George S. Patton, Jr. Historical Society. He is the author of “The Unknown Patton”, “Patton’s Third Army”, and “Patton’s One-Minute Messages." This comment was added onto his page at the IWVPA, which explains a little of the confusion about authorship of the poem:

Mr. Charles M. Province has contacted me with the request that due credit be given to his authorship of the poem, “It Is the Soldier”, which has, to my knowledge, for several years been attributed to Father Denis Edward O’Brien, USMC. Mr. Province has advised that Father O’Brien once sent a copy of the poem to “Dear Abby” and it was printed erroneously giving credit to Father O’Brien for writing it. It is at that point that the authorship became clouded. I reproduce this information in the hope of ensuring Mr. Province receives full, appropriate and most deserved credit for his wonderful piece.

Father Denis Edward O’Brien, M.M. (Maryknoll Missioner)

Spiritual Director, American Life League
October 8, 1923 – August 29, 2002
A Man for All Seasons

Father Denis O’Brien was born in Dallas on October 8, 1923, and entered the seminary in 1941. But when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he quickly volunteered for the Marine Corps.

He served in the Pacific and participated in three campaigns; Café Gloucester, Peleliu and Okinawa. He often recalled the battle to take Peleliu as the bloodiest and most memorable — 1,336 Marines lost their lives and 6,032 were wounded. Later, as chaplain of the First Marine Division, he returned to Peleliu in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that battle and to pray for all who died there. They were, as he described them, his brothers and all Marines. He often said, “We never left anyone behind.”

He said it was on that battlefield that he felt God’s call stronger than before. After he left the military service, he went into God’s service by studying at the Maryknoll Seminary in New York.

Father Denis O’Brien went on to be a missionary to the poor, the needy, the terminally ill and the “unwanted” in East Africa and Mexico. Father O’Brien so impressed the leadership of the Mexican bishops’ conference that he was appointed respect life director, a job he performed remarkably for 25 years. He trained doctors, taught medical students, spoke to high school and college groups, trained parents, and did it with a love for human beings and respect for the magisterium of the Church.

3,520 cards mailed to our heroes this week...Thank you to all our cardmakers who continue to make this work possible!

To heroes in Afghanistan:
338 cards to an Army unit
359 cards to an Air Force unit
320 cards to an AirForce unit

To heroes in Iraq:
336 cards to an Army unit
145 cards to an Army unit
338 cards to an Army unit
359 cards to an Army unit
365 cards to an Navy unit
320 cards to an Army unit
320 cards to an ArmyNG unit
320 cards to an Navy unit

Other fun statistics:Number of boxes sent:1,062
Number of hero contacts: 628
Total cards sent: 283,407!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

One of our wonderful shippers is hanging up her tapegun! This happens from time to time, as those of you who've been with us a while can attest to — being a shipper is a demanding volunteer position, and most of our lives can't survive on hold for too long while the cards are a-waiting. We've had to say goodbye four other times, but it never seems to get easier!

Fabre's been with us since February, and has done such a WONDERFUL job – but, she and her family have been sacrificing a lot for our heroes. Not only their dining room table, but her focus on other things like family time and their business. It's time to release Fabre joyfully to return to cooking with gusto (she's a chef, if you didn't know)!

Please join us in thanking her for being such a gracious and dedicated shipper this year - for her heart and passion, for the extra time she's put in on bloghops and coordinating card drives at craft conventions, and the wonderful things she's done for our heroes!

Leave your comments on this blog post for her - let's celebrate Fabre!

Mailing in December
Please refrain from sending your cards to Fabre; she's finishing up what's been sent, and will be passing on other cards and donations that come in, so let's let her mail return to a normal volume. With the exception, of course, of a thank you card if you wish to send her one!

If you're sending a flat rate package in December, you can mail it to Kansas or Washington at no extra cost; if it's not flat rate and you'd like to hang onto it for our new east coast shipper in January, that's fine. We'll extend the 25+1 challenge til she's on board, so your cards can still be entered for our 20 prizes!

Shippers plan
And now, lest you worry, we do have another east coast shipper waiting in the wings! We'll have her start after Christmas, to allow her some time to prepare...and once she's ready we'll post her address in the Mailroom and introduce her on this blog - when we do, join us in welcoming her with cards!

Some of you have asked why we don't have more shippers than we do. For a season we'd had five shippers, and found ourselves not collecting enough cards in each location fast enough to pack enough boxes to meet requests. For example, California might have a bunch of birthday cards, and Wisconsin enough love cards, but we couldn't get them together to pack up a requested selection. And we found that three seems to be the "right" number for most of the year.

The future plan is to watch the quantities of cards as they continue, and determine the point at which we can likely add a 4th shipper and still be able to meet our heroes' requests. Another thing we're entertaining is adding a few shippers just for the holiday shipping season (September/October/November) to ease the load - if you're interested, stay tuned to our blog and enews for details next summer!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

An email's been circulating that's worth highlighting - and it's about a company policy toward employees serving as reservists, and the benefits they receive. The email is true - check out the link here! This is a portion of the long email that's going around:

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty?

By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

It's always a great idea to let a business know if there's a special reason you shop there. What a way to encourage positive business practices! Sears rightfully deserves kudos for serving our nation's heroes by protecting their livelihoods like this! In this season of shopping, consider stopping at a Sears store even if it's not always on your go-to list of stores....and tell them why you're there!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Happy Red Friday! You probably noticed we took a break (lol, maybe you were hoping so?) from Red Fridays....we'll be back after the new year with something that it'll morph into: An OWH Bloggers Circle! A few of our bloggers want to regularly visit each other, challenge each other, and encourage each other...so stay tuned for more on how that will play out. (And if you want to join in the fun, leave your blog url on this post, and the person organizing it will be in touch!)

For today....let's share a little happy, if you haven't already posted our new fun video on your blog!

Sonja H and Beta Epsilon Chapter., Snyder TX.....these cards are gorgeous. Love the thick felt ribbon you used on some of the cards!

Jen H. and the ladies of Gamma Sigma Sigma, Slippery Rock, PA - Thank you so much for the cards for our heroes!

Carol S, Milwaukee WI....a great package of cards. Thank you!

Christine Z and the second graders, White Lake MI....your AnyHero letters made me smile SO big, I know our heroes will love them all!

Tony F, Marina CA, thank you for your generous donation!

Stacy C. and the Creative Crafts Group, Bluffdale UT - Thank you so much for arranging for a collection point at all of the Creating Keepsakes Conventions, thanks to you, well over 3,000 cards have been sent to our heroes this year! Happy Holidays!

Kathryn G., Washingtonville, NY - What a beautiful box loaded with cards, thank you so much!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Now that our holiday shipping is done....it's time to let you know what you achieved in these last few months!

This has been an amazing season—the amount of cards, the number of new folks joining our OWH family, the numbers of heroes requesting cards....not to mention the incredible creativity packed into every box and every card!

For those who love numbers, here you go...these compare the months of September, October, and November of last year and this year!

2008: 39,632 cards mailed2009: 100,006 cards mailed

2008: 129 boxes shipped2009: 326 boxes shipped

2008: $1,335.38 shipping costs2009: $3,658.47 shipping costs

OWH more than DOUBLED last year's cards sent to our heroes! Congratulations to the cardmakers, financial donors, and shippers, as well as the heroes and families who receive the cards!

If anyone wonders why our shippers are just a little tired, and possibly a little less than responsive lately....hopefully this explains it! :) They've done a beautiful job processing, counting, sorting, stamping, and shipping for months, and work so hard to make sure our heroes get wonderful selections in each and every box. A hearty thank you to them for all they do!

Now, lest anyone think the work is over, here's the challenge set up in the numbers above. Remember the 326 boxes shipped? Most of those will want a box for Valentine's Day! You know what that means: it's time for a challenge:

We hereby and forthwith challenge each cardmaker to send in 25 cards in December - valentines or love cards, birthday cards, thank you cards, general cards - and 1 AnyHero card! Send them to any shipper, and you'll be entered in a drawing — we have 20 prizes available thanks to Elle's Studio!

Include this Packing Slip to send in with your cards, as well as add 'Operation Write Home' to the backs of your cards, so our shippers can take a little less time processing your gifts while they also try to take time for their families for the holidays!

Bloggers, we have new badges to get your readers thinking about sending in Love cards - check them out here and link them to this post on our Homefront Blog - so they, too, can see the size of the need we're going to be having.